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Gates to greatness

Chittenden County’s top high school alpine ski racers have picked up plenty of speed heading into this year’s state championships, which get underway today with the giant slalom event at Middlebury Snow Bowl.

Chittenden County’s top high school alpine ski racers have picked up plenty of speed heading into this year’s state championships, which get underway today with the giant slalom event at Middlebury Snow Bowl. Individual and team winners from last week’s NVAC Districts will have targets on their backs, but hope that is the only part of their bodies the competition will see anyway.

Mount Mansfield’s Kyle Polson and Michael Hladky of Essex are two names to watch on the boys side. Winners of the GS and slalom, respectively, at Districts, they have both landed on podiums at States before and know just how much to push it in the biggest high school race of the season.

Essex head coach Mike Goodrich calls Hladky “the 10,000-hour kid,” who has put in enough time ski racing to be truly in the zone competitively.

“He’s at a point in his skiing career where he’s essentially on auto-pilot,” Goodrich said. “He’s focused; he has strong technique; he can see the line and ski the line; and he has the ability to block everything out and have this tunnel-vision.

“He’s one of those lucky individuals who, right now, is controlling his own destiny.”

Polson’s MMU Cougars could make a run at a boys team title as well, thanks to the consistency of senior Hayden Russell and sophomore Tom Chivers. Russell was the runner-up in the slalom at Districts, and both cracked the Top 10 in the GS to help the MMU boys claim the team trophy.

Other boys who could make some noise at States include Stowe’s Mark Infante — who turned in twin Top-5 finishes at Districts — as well as BFA-St. Albans’ Wylie Coseo, Harwood’s Hobey Weston, CVU’s Ted Hadley and South Burlington teammates Jackson Hall and Steven Cone.

On the girls side, South Burlington has emerged as a northern Vermont power behind a breakout campaign from Annika Nielsen. The freshman won the GS at Sugarbush during Districts, the day after her team-best fourth in the slalom at Stowe.

“She’s very fast out of the gate and is a very smooth, consistent skier,” SBHS head coach Al Dworshak said of Nielsen following her winning GS run.

The Mount Mansfield girls pack one of the biggest 1-2 punches in Vermont in Ali Chivers — who swept the slalom and GS at last year’s States — and Karin Rand.

Other girls who could make runs at the girls podium include Stowe’s Ali Leach, Harwood’s Megan O’Shea, CVU’s Emma Putre, Colchester’s Abby Harrington (who will race as an independent), Rice’s Camille Fontaine-Morin and Emma Casavant of BFA-St. Albans.

CVU head coach Mike Minnerly said Putre has experience on her side heading into States as an upperclassman.

“Emma is used to big races, and she seems to be peaking at the right time,” Minnerly said.

The course for today’s GS is likely to play a big part in separating the contenders from the pretenders. Laid out on the same Allen Trail run that Middlebury College uses for its carnival, it features a steep and challenging top section followed by another drop into its flats, then a hair-raising final pitch that will test the tired legs of the high school racers.

“This is by far the most challenging GS hill these kids will see all season,” Dworshak said.

The state championships conclude Wednesday at Burke Mountain, and coaches are ever-wary that weather could be a factor. Forecasters predict frigid temperatures and potential snowfall leading up to Wednesday’s finale.

But arguably the biggest challenge for northern Vermont’s alpine racers at States comes from the southern powerhouse programs that they don’t cross paths with during the regular season.

Defending champion Burr and Burton, Woodstock and Rutland may be somewhat of a mystery in terms of names and times, but their counterparts to the north know not to underestimate them.

“Last year we brought 10 or 11 boys teams from the north (to States), and those three southern teams finished 1-2-3,” Dworshak said. “They bring a lot of club skiers, and they are always well prepared and well coached. Those southern teams always seem to ski really well in the big events at States.”

Those southern programs also respect that division of power, which disappears once Vermont’s winner-take-all races get underway.

“We feel the same way about the north,” Woodstock head coach Bill McCollom said, noting that Burr and Burton is the team to beat on the boys side, while the girls squads are closer in strength. “You labor in obscurity until you get to States, then you see who else is out there.”